Three cheers for getting job done

Whitefish Mayor Andy Feury cast the deciding vote last week when the City Council was split over the idea of a temporary moratorium on major subdivisions. Feury voted against the moratorium, and we believe it was the right decision for Whitefish.

At issue is the new city planning department's gigantic workload in getting a growth policy drafted by the October deadline. The council was well aware of the workload, however, when it broke away from the Tri-City Planning Office and created its own planning department.

Imposing a moratorium would have been the easy way out.

Government at any level is often criticized for taking the path of least resistance. That's why it was so refreshing to hear Planning Director Bob Horne's take on the matter after the Jan. 3 meeting. Horne already had a reasonable game plan in place to farm out smaller portions of the project that involves updating Whitefish's decade-old master plan.

Horne said he and his staff realized the task facing them when they signed on for the job a year ago. "We'll be fine," he said.

In the private sector, business owners and operators are routinely faced with overwhelming workloads. That's when most of us suck it up, catch another gear and keep on going until the job gets done. It's nice to know there are government employees willing to do the same.

Besides, both Horne and Feury acknowledged that the world won't stop turning if Whitefish should miss the October deadline. The city would be able to cope, even though it would be prohibited from amending the existing master plan and making major zone changes until the new policy is completed.

Whitefish City Manager Gary Marks had cautioned council members before the meeting to consider both the practical and philosophical implications of a moratorium, how it could negatively affect the city budget and affordable-housing efforts. And after the moratorium, the city would have been faced with a flood of development applications, Marks noted.

Whitefish is growing so rapidly and changing so much, the knee-jerk reaction for many would be to stop growth in any way possible. It's at times like these that rational thoughts need to prevail.

Our community will continue to grow. That's a given. That's why it's more important than ever for the Whitefish council to be able to guide development decisions carefully and thoughtfully.